


The Truth Will Out

by GryffindorTom



Series: Ravesnwood - The Potter Family [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:55:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24611887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GryffindorTom/pseuds/GryffindorTom
Summary: Ravenswood, an island in the Channel Islands ruled by the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter. When Sirius Black dies, Harry Potter find out from two people close to the Animagus that he has been screwed over by Dumbledore, but what happens when he finds out he is to be married to Susan Bones, and his best friend Hermione is up for auction...
Relationships: Amelia Bones/Sirius Black (mentioned), Arthur Weasley/Molly Prewitt, Charlus Potter/Dorea Black (mentioned), Harry Potter/Hermione Granger/Susan Bones, Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black (mentioned), Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks, Vernon Dursley/Petunia Evans
Series: Ravesnwood - The Potter Family [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1779331
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Harem War](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/630706) by Radaslab. 



> INTRODUCTION
> 
> This story is unlike most of my stories, so I felt the need to introduce the concept first. The Ravenswood series begins just after the Battle at the Department of Mysteries in Order of the Phoenix.
> 
> Please note that It is very AU from after the Battle, especially when it comes to Harry, Hermione and Ron. It is MOSTLY Canon before, but not entirely. This is going to be a 4-part series, featuring the main parts of Harry/Hermione/Susan, but with some changes to the pairs at the transition between Series I and Series II.
> 
> This is a "partial" response to the "Slave Challenge" posted by Ranger Dragan (I think) some time ago.
> 
> The Challenge bits I accept are as follows:
> 
> Harry finds himself with slave(s) – Done, but not until Series II, and only the 1.
> 
> Dumbledore has to be a right bastard - Done.
> 
> Weasley bashing - Done.
> 
> Harry finds himself in these circumstances thanks to Sirius – Not Done…
> 
> He's allowed to brutalize his "slaves." – Not Done…
> 
> His magic must be bound - Done.
> 
> He must have been defrauded out of his inheritance up to now - Done.
> 
> He inherits an island floating around in the Atlantic – Partially Done as Ravenswood is in the Channel Islands.
> 
> This fic assumes a world that is grossly male dominated and oriented, where women (witches) are considered chattel.
> 
> DEFINITIONS
> 
> Magical Guardian - Always a wizard. A magical guardian controls the life of his wards. The magical guardian can bind his wards into marriage contracts or sell his witches as concubines. It is the father, if the father is a wizard. If a child has no wizard father, it can be decided by Will. Otherwise, it vests in the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.
> 
> A boy is subjected to such guardianship until age 17.
> 
> A girl is subject to it until she is bonded to a wizard by way of a betrothal contract or a concubine bond…
> 
> Auction – Every year an Auction for Concubines is set up, with each Magical Guardian having the allowance for two witches per auction year.
> 
> Betrothals - legal or magical reciprocal bonding between a man and a woman intended to be permanent and created either for love or family. This is a form of contractual relationship differentiated only by the nature of the contract.
> 
> Concubines - The magical guardian of a young witch can sell her off as a concubine. For all practical purposes, this is a slave. She is bound involuntarily to a wizard and short of harming herself, will do whatever her "Master" wants.
> 
> This bond came into being to make sure a witch did not need to get hitched to a Muggle (and risk being burned or worse) as she could be bound to a wizard as a member of his family. The bond became perverted with the rise of Pureblood ideals and was turned into a means for subjugating Muggleborns and for the baser pleasures of Pureblood Masters. (In other words, the concubines became the magical sex trade and were the working women of the brothels.)
> 
> The bonding is, for lack of a better word, a form of ritualized rape as in most cases the witch is not consenting to the bond.
> 
> The Bond is permanent. The witch will always be a concubine. Her bond cannot be broken, only transferred to another wizard, and only through sale, confiscation of assets or as the Spoils of war.
> 
> CONCLUSION OF INTRODUCTION
> 
> That being said, Harry will have a Concubine and a Betrothed in his life, Susan Bones playing the part of the betrothed and Hermione eventually playing the part of the Concubine. There will be mentions of rape involved in Series I of this fic as Ron is involved in it, with the aftermath of it being in Series II.

_**Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, England** _

_**24** _ _**th** _ _**July 1996** _

Harry Potter was snoring loudly. He had been sitting in a chair beside his bedroom window for the best part of four hours, staring out at the darkening street, and had finally fallen asleep with one side of his face pressed against the cold windowpane, his glasses askew and his mouth wide open.

The misty fog that his breath had left on the window sparkled in the orange glare of the streetlamp outside, and the artificial light drained his face of all colour, so that he looked ghostly beneath his shock of untidy black hair.

The room was strewn with various possessions and a good smattering of rubbish. Owl feathers, apple cores, and sweet wrappers littered the floor, a number of spell books lay higgledy-piggledy among the tangled robes on his bed, and a mess of newspapers sat in a puddle of light on his desk.

To the left of this paper sat another, which had been folded so that a story bearing the title Ministry Guarantees Students' Safety was visible. But the entirety of the news story was obscured by the large birdcage standing on top of it. Inside it was a magnificent snowy owl. Her amber eyes surveyed the room imperiously, her head swivelling occasionally to gaze at her snoring master. Once or twice she clicked her beak impatiently, but Harry was too deeply asleep to hear her.

A large trunk stood in the very middle of the room. Its lid was open; it looked expectant; yet it was almost empty but for a residue of old underwear, sweets, empty ink bottles, and broken quills that coated the very bottom. Nearby, on the floor, lay a purple leaflet, sent from the Ministry of Magic, one which had tried to give the reader some practical advice on how to defend their house and family.

Harry grunted in his sleep and his face slid down the window an inch or so, making his glasses still more lopsided, but he did not wake up. An alarm clock, repaired by Harry several years ago, ticked loudly on the sill, showing one minute to eleven. Beside it, held in place by Harry's relaxed hand, was a piece of parchment covered in thin, slanting writing. Harry had read this letter so often since its arrival three days ago that although it had been delivered in a tightly furled scroll, it now lay quite flat.

' _Dear Harry,_

_If it is convenient to you, I shall call at number four, Privet Drive this coming Friday at eleven P.M. to escort you to the Burrow, where you have been invited to spend the remainder of your school holidays._

_If you are agreeable, I should also be glad of your assistance in a matter to which I hope to attend on the way to the Burrow. I shall explain this more fully when I see you._

_Kindly send your answer by return of this owl. Hoping to see you this Friday,_

_I am, yours most sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore'_

Suddenly a scratching was coming from the window, the sound of someone throwing something in order to get the attention of the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry woke from his slumber and headed to the window to see in the back garden the group of Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Susan Bones and a German Shepherd dog.

Heading downstairs, Harry let the group into the house through the back door when the German Shepherd turned into Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement.

"Aunt Amelia. Why don't you check for any wards and I will help Harry pack?" Susan said, trying to organise the rescuers of the Boy-Who-Lived into an order of some fashion. "I need to talk to him anyway."

"Susan. Surely Nymphadora-"

"DON'T CALL ME NYMPHADORA!" Tonks shouted at the older redhead. Amelia left the room intent on finding the wards that Susan mentioned

"Don't mind Tonks. She is still pissed off as she had to kill her Aunt Bellatrix the weekend. If only that crazy bitch hadn't tried to kill Neville Longbottom than she would still be alive." Remus said, holding his girlfriend tight around the waist, Tonks's hair turning bubble-gum pink.

"That may be Professor Lupin, but we need to get Harry and go." Susan said, frowning at the couple who were taking their time. Seeing her aunt return and frowning, Susan turned to Harry, saying the one thing that made him scared. "You're not safe here. There are no wards whatsoever!"

The quartet quickly packed Harry's clothes and other supplies into his trunk. Remus had pulled a hula hoop out of the bag Tonks was carrying when they heard a sound that they did not want to hear…

…the sound of apparition.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some people over on FFN said that there similar premise to the Harem War by Radaslab when I posted it over there. This was intentional, but at the same time it was intended to be different. There will be no Harry and his supercharged 60 wives, but a Harry who is forced to marry because of a betrothal and forced to protect his friend from the want of his (former) best male friend. In this chapter, we get to meet some of the key players for this series, with the next chapter revealing some of the others…

_"That may be Professor Lupin, but we need to get Harry and go." Susan said, frowning at the couple who were taking their time. Seeing her aunt return and frowning, Susan turned to Harry, saying the one thing that made him scared. "You're not safe here. There are no wards whatsoever!"_

_The quartet quickly packed Harry's clothes and other supplies into his trunk. Remus had pulled a hula hoop out of the bag Tonks was carrying when they heard a sound that they did not want to hear…_

… _the sound of apparition._

_**Number 23, Spinners End, Cokeworth, Alcester, Warwickshire, England** _

_**24** _ _**th** _ _**July 1996** _

"Cissy — Narcissa — listen to me —"

The second woman caught the first and seized her arm, but the other wrenched it away. "Go back, Bella!"

"You must listen to me!"

"I've listened already. I've made my decision. Leave me alone!" The woman named Narcissa gained the top of the bank, where a line of old railings separated the river from a narrow, cobbled street. The other woman, Bella, followed at once. Side by side they stood looking across the road at the rows and rows of dilapidated brick houses, their windows dull and blind in the darkness.

"Severus lives here?" asked Bella in a voice of contempt. "Here? In this Muggle dunghill? We must be the first of our kind ever to set foot —"

But Narcissa was not listening; she had slipped through a gap in the rusty railings and was already hurrying across the road.

"Cissy, wait!" Bella followed, her cloak streaming behind, and saw Narcissa darting through an alley between the houses into a second, almost identical street. Some of the streetlamps were broken; the two women were running between patches of light and deep darkness.

The pursuer caught up with her prey just as she turned another corner, this time succeeding in catching hold of her arm and swinging her around so that they faced each other.

"Cissy, you must not do this, you can't trust him —"

"The Dark Lord trusts him, doesn't he?"

"The Dark Lord is…I believe…mistaken," Bella panted, and her eyes gleamed momentarily under her hood as she looked around to check that they were indeed alone. "In any case, we were told not to speak of the plan to anyone. This is a betrayal of the Dark Lord's —"

"Let go, Bella!" snarled Narcissa, and she drew a wand from beneath her cloak, holding it threateningly in the other's face. Bella merely laughed.

"Cissy, your own sister? You wouldn't —"

"There is nothing I wouldn't do anymore!" Narcissa breathed, a note of hysteria in her voice, and as she brought down the wand like a knife, there was another flash of light. Bella let go of her sister's arm as though burned.

"Narcissa!"

"WHAT!"

"Do you not remember what the Dark Lord ordered us to do? He commanded we bring Potter to your manor, and do it we will."

"Where does he live?"

"The Dark Lord had Yaxley ferret around the Auror Department to get Potter's address." Bellatrix explained to her sister. "And the Dark Lord forbid you from going to Snape anyway. If you breach HIS plan, you will suffer."

"Tough shit Bella, I am going to see Severus even if you like it or not."

As the wife of Lucius Malfoy made her way to number 23, Bellatrix knew she had only one option. Raising her wand, she had only one thing to say…

"I'm sorry Cissy, but the Dark Lords orders must be done. _Avada Kedavra."_

Transfiguring the dead body of her sister into a bone, she threw it at the nearest stray dog, Apparating out of the area in order to visit her prey…one Harry James Potter.

_**Granger Residence, Berriew Close, Bagshot, Surrey, England** _

_**24** _ _**th** _ _**July 1996** _

Hermione Granger was tired. She had been up all night trying to write a letter to the person who, despite his insistence that the disaster known as the Department of Mysteries was his fault, she loved. The only problem was that she had not been able to do so as her emotions about Harry Potter were all over the place, her heart pounding for him yet at the same time she knew that he would try and deny her as he would want to keep her safe from the Death Eaters attentions, despite her being a Muggleborn.

She had been told by the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, that Harry was not to be contacted at all during the summer, as apparently, he had requested the Headmaster to inform her and Ron, mainly as he wanted to grieve. Hermione knew that it was unlike Harry, but at the same time, she could understand what he had said, having lost her mother at a young age, her father remarrying prior to the young witch leaving for the Spring term of her First Year.

Sitting at her desk, she grabbed a piece of paper from a nearby notepad, one that was on the desk that originally belonged to her late great-grandfather, Hector Dagworth-Granger, who she had found out to have been a quite accomplished wizard, and started to write a letter, declaring her love to the Boy-Who-Lived. Despite her efforts, time passed by, but she knew that she was struggling when she had thrown her fourth piece of paper in the bin near her desk.

' _Maybe I will go to Privet Drive and visit him.'_ She thought, realising that writing a letter to him would hardly work. ' _There again, the bloody Dursleys threatened dad last time he tried to get me to see Harry, right before Dumbledore and his "bird club" decided to spirit me off to where Sirius was held captive. Maybe I ought to contact Kingsley or Tonks to see what they could do.'_

Turning the lamp off, Hermione left her desk to get into bed, not knowing the next twenty days would be the most life changing ever...

_**Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, England** _

_**24th July 1996** _

Hearing apparition, Harry ran through the house, down the stairs, heading to the kitchen to raid his uncles safe, his wand in hand, his intention being to take some money that he had seen his uncle store there on a previous occasion just in case the group were going to hide him in the Muggle world, the thought that some money would be useful for supplies.

"There's no time!" Susan shouted, taking chase of the person who was to be her betrothed, even though Harry did not know it yet. "We need to go now!"

Suddenly an explosion rocketed the house, waking the Dursley family. "WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED?" Vernon sheltered, thinking that a bomb had gone off.

Harry quickly rushed back up the stairs, loosening the cage where Hedwig was being held, allowing his constant companion to fly out of it, the torture of being caged for a long time causing her chaos. He watched does Remus open the window, seeing the bird fly out, but then Harry was saddened as he witness the sight of a jet of green light hitting the Snowy Owl, connecting with her chest, killing the bird.

Harry watched as Amelia pulled out a newspaper from her pocket and cast a spell on it, a spell that had read about that turned items into a portkey.

"Quickly Harry, you and Susan grab it and get out of here. We'll fight whoever is there." Kingsley said, handing the newspaper to the two teens who accepted it, intent on sending them to a safe place.

Just as the Portkey that Amelia had created was about to activate, the door of Harry's bedroom opened, Tonks having shut it magically, the sight of Vernon Dursleys entering it with a wand to his neck, the hostage being held by someone that was recognised by everyone...

"Hello...Nymphadora."

_**The Headmasters Office, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland** _

_**24** _ _**th** _ _**July 1996** _

The Sorting Hat was posted on the headmasters desk, his mind was contemplating a new song tin sing for the start of the new school term when it saw a sight that it knew was wrong, the sight of several trinkets in the Headmasters Office spontaneously combusting, two of those belonging to wards that the current Headmaster had set upon Harry Potter, ones that had Albus Dumbledore significant notice of, instead of an occasional glance, he would have noticed that they would have been down since how he had started at Hogwarts for his Fifth Year.

However, the Headmaster did not get to see the trinkets burning, mainly as he was currently dining with Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, in his position of Chief Warlock, knowing that he could do some efforts to his "Greater Good", a plan that had been the start of the downfall of his lover, Gellert Gwindlewald.

Another attendee of the meeting was Charlus Potter, someone who he knew to be a member of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter, but had been disowned by Henry Potter when he had broken his marriage to Dorea Black, and the murder of his son, Charlus Junior.

The older Potter was an auctioneer by trade, one who would take a significant part in the annual concubine auction, an auction of teenage women who were to be sold by their Magical Guardians. Starting in 1764, the Concubine Auctions had brought in a significant amount of money for the Ministry of Magic, but had also resulted in the loss to the rolls of Hogwarts of several students, some from "lower Pureblood" families, but on the other hand, some of the more "prominent Pureblood" families had also contributed to the losses, the Ancient House of Snow ending this way.

Dumbledore would later arrive back in his office prior to visiting Privet Drive to collect Harry Potter and would end up ignoring the signs that the wards had completely collapsed…but the sight he would encounter was going to be one that he had not expected at all…

_**Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, England** _

_**24th July 1996** _

"Hello...Nymphadora." Bellatrix Lestrange said, her captive struggling to get away from her, the wand of the crazy woman against the neck of Vernon Dursley. Suddenly she pulled a knife in her other hand and slit the Dursley patriarchs throat, killing him. She pointed her wand at the one person in the group that she was related to and cast her favourite curse.

" _Crucio_!"

The group were in shock at the sight of Bellatrix Lestrange in Number 4, Privet Drive that they did not expect her to even cast the curse at Tonks. Remus ran towards the Lestrange woman and, without thinking, pushed her down the stairs. At the same time, Kingsley got onto his knees to tend to the fallen metamorphmagus.

"Tonks…are you okay?" he yelled, as the sound of Remus and Bellatrix were fighting against each other

"Yes," Tonks replied, trying to pull herself up, Amelia offering the Metamorph a hand up. Rushing towards the stairs, the group saw Petunia Dursley lying on her bed, blood coming from her side.

Kingsley headed to the bedroom to administer First Aid, but as they looked down the stairs, they saw Remus Lupin and Bellatrix at the bottom, fighting each other as their lives depended on it. Suddenly they saw Bellatrix Apparate out of the location, with Remus slumping in the gap that had been made.

Rushing downstairs, Harry stepped to the side to allow the group to join him when Susan saw something that none of the others had initially seen…a knife sticking in the side of Remus's body.

"You two need to go. Now." Amelia said, shoving the newspaper into the hands of Susan and Harry, activating the Portkey. Turning to her two Aurors, she looked them in the eye and said one thing that made them realise that their vows to the Auror Department and the Order of the Phoenix could end up in jeopardy.

"If Dawlish or any of the other Aurors in the department come, I was never here. And if Dumbledore comes along, you tell him that Voldemort has young Harry, and that Bellatrix was here!"

Apparating away, Amelia knew that she would need to explain to Harry about why they visited…and where she had sent the couple to…


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know there was a few plot holes that have been identified from the first 2 chapters, I'll sort those out in this and the next chapter. By the way, in this, I have amended the roles that Shacklebolt and Thicknesse have in the DMLE. And no, Bellatrix will not be redeemed in this fic (and in this, as with most of my fics, Neville and Harry are related - second cousins on Harry's paternal side).
> 
> Some of the backstory of Bellatrix Lestrage was used from my fic "The Potters vs The Longbottoms".

**_Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, England_ **

**_24th July 1996_ **

As soon as her boss had made the Portkey go, Tonks ran over to where Remus was laying. Seeing the body with the knife still in it, Tonks fell onto her knees in sadness, her hair turning from its usual bubble-gum pink to grey.

"Why did you have to be a hero Remus." she said, weeping. "First Sirius, now you, yet that bitch of an aunt still survives. Where is the justice in the world? We were going to have a baby damn it."

Suddenly she heard cracks of apparition and, looking up to see who it was, frowned.

"What are you doing here Auror Tonks? You were supposed to be on duty in Diagon Alley.". It was her boss, Assistant Head of the Auror Corps, Pius Thicknesse.

"Kingsley asked me to come with him as he heard that the Potter residence was under heavy spell fire." Tonks replied.

"A likely story Auror Tonks. I'll have you suspended for this. You'll-" Thickness stopped as he saw his superior walk into the living room of Number 4.

"Go on Thickness, berate an Auror who was following instructions from a senior DMLE staff member. You do know that it is Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour's night to cover the HOT desk and not yours. Just because you and your Master-" Kingsley started to say, getting interrupted by the Assistant Head Auror.

"I was under the Imperius Curse. The Wizengamot cleared me. Head Auror Pilmire let me back into the Auror Corps after I was cleared." Thicknesse said, trying to lay it on with a trowel. "Now, as it seems you have the situation covered. It looks like I can get back to my…gobstones tournament."

A crack of apparition later and Tonks and Kingsley were left in Number 4 on their own. "You're lucky your grandfather vouched for you getting into the Auror Corps back in '90. If he had not done before he died, Thickness would have thrown you out in the Academy."

"I know Shack. Great Aunt Walburga may have blasted my mother off the tapestry, but Grandfather always wished he never been related to her." Tonks said, thinking about how her Grandfather, along with Lord Black had cared for her family. Schooling her face to be clearer, she remembered one thing. "I was sure that I had killed Aunt Bellatrix earlier this weekend. I guess that her Master must have arranged a healer friendly to his cause to help her."

As the two Aurors apparated with Remus to Godrics Hollow, Tonks could not help but wonder what else Voldemort may have done with her aunt.

**_Riddle Manor, Little Hangleton, England._ **

**_24th July 1996_ **

Bellatrix Lestrange walked into Riddle Manor, the base where her Lord was. Born to Cygnus Black and his wife, Druella Rosier, in the middle of 1951, Bellatrix was the oldest of the three Black sisters, her middle sister being Andromeda and the youngest being Narcissa, meaning that she was a member of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, a family which was part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight group of families.

Joining Hogwarts in the September of 1962, Bellatrix was sorted into Slytherin House instantly, following both of her parents as future alumni of that house. One of the reasons she was sortied into that house was because of the influence of her Great Aunt, Walburga Black, and the force-feeding of the Black Family Grimoire as a child by her mother.

Despite her father favouring Andromeda, even when she ran off with Ted Tonks, Bellatrix wished that he would show her some affection, especially after she had been raped.

In 1966, when Bellatrix was 15, she was raped by Ambrose Longbottom. Longbottom was a Slytherin who was Head Boy, a few years ahead of her at Hogwarts. Despite being betrothed to fellow Slytherin, Rodolphus Lestrange, Bellatrix could not escape the bonds that the older boy forced her into, her ordeal only ending after her betrothed almost killed the Head Girl, Longbottoms concubine.

It was this rape that caused Bellatrix to fall even deeper into the Dark Arts, causing her to suffer from Dark Arts Dependency Syndrome, the syndrome which is caused by someone having too much use of the Dark Arts.

After Longbottom left Hogwarts the summer following the rape, Bellatrix swore vengeance on the Ancient and Most Noble House of Longbottom, only promising her Great Aunt Dorea that she would spare Augusta, the older Blacks sister-in-law. Dorea, in the only way a Black would do so, made the granddaughter of her favourite brother swear an Oath that she would not do that.

And she did. She swore the Oath, and a few years later, led an attack on the Longbottom family a few days after the Dark Lord was killed by Harry Potter.

It was only due to Alastor Moody and his team of Aurors that Bellatrix failed to kill the youngest Longbottom. But she still left Alice and Frank Longbottom in a vegetative state.

Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Bellatrix entered the Throne Room of Riddle Manor, where she saw the Dark Lord staring at her.

"Did she try to meet Severus?"

"Yes, my Lord. And I killed her for it."

"Good. The current crop of Malfoys are a weak family Bella. I want you to watch Lucius, and when the time is right… Nagini will be fed."

**_Potter Manor, Ravenswood_ **

**_24th July 1996_ **

Harry Potter was in shock. He had just been told some things about Albus Dumbledore and the Order of The Pheonix that he didn't know about, how they had manipulated him into going to the Department of Mysteries, how Dumbledore had pointed Voldemort at his parents by not Obliviating Snape of the prophecy, and that Ron and his mother were in league with Dumbledore. But there was one thing that made him feel even more shocked.

Sirius had married Amelia Bones before his parents died, and Susan was Sirius's niece.

Harry honestly didn't expect that!

What was more shocking was Sirius's will. When Amelia told him what was in it, he knew that Sirius loved him as more than a godfather.

_'When I die, I name Harry James Potter as my son and_ _heir. If I die before you, you take over control of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. I'll never let Lucius Malfoy get control of my family's holdings, especially if . Harry, I know Lily and James are your parents, but I loved you as much as I would any son or daughter. Thanks to the inbreeding from my family, I can only fire blanks._

_'I know this is going to be a bit of a shock for you, but I had to create a betrothal contract for you. You see, I wanted to protect Susan as much as I wanted to protect you from Albus Dumbledore. That is why Amelia and I created a contract which means that when you are 17, you and Susan will need to get married._

_'I know you have feelings for Hermione Granger, but I need you to know, I did this to protect my niece._ _The reason for this is because of the way the Wizarding World works. Women are treated like cattle. Only certain women who manage to have a patron powerful in the Wizengamot, or in certain positions of power, can reach jobs such as Directors of Ministry Departments, or owners of shops such as Madam Malkins._

_'Its worse for some Muggleborns. Some of them are treated worse. They are treated like slaves. Lily was almost sold off to Snape, had it not been for your fathers love for her, and the quick thinking of your grandfather, Lily was saved from a fate worse than death. That's why I fear for your friend Hermione. I fear that Dumbledore will sell her to the likes of Ron Weasley_

_'I don't know how Amelia managed to raise to her position in the Ministry, especially as we never registered our marriage with the Ministry, as I never got to ask her before my death, but I know she would possibly tell you._

_'I love you Harry, and I know James and Lily does too. I know I shouldn't have gone after the rat, but I wanted to avenge your parents death, and I knew I was to blame, letting James and Lily make him their Secret Keeper. It was only thanks to Amy, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Tonks and Moody that I was never captured. Tonks because of blood, Shack I knew from Auror training, and Moody. Well, Moody didn't trust Albus after what happened last year._

_'Look after yourself son, grow old and grey, look after Susan, and don't let Dumbledore and Voldemort beat you.'_

Harry couldn't believe what he had read. Sirius loved him like a father.

And Harry knew one thing. He would take his advice to heart. ' _Even though I love Hermione, I need to help Susan too. I'm going to fight for them both. Even if it kills me_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...so...how did Amelia get to the top of the DMLE? We'll find out in the next chapter. Sirius is defiantly dead. Dead and buried. He won't be making any appearances in this series except for flashbacks. And James and Lily are dead too. The only time will we see them is through their Portraits...if Harry can find them first! Unlike The Harem War, which kinda did partly inspire this series, there will be no multiple wives/concubines for Harry, only Susan and Hermione are paired with Harry (Susan as his betrothed and Hermione as his concubine).


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've read my fic "Just You and Me", you may recognise some of the text from it in this chapter...

**Princewood Auctioneers, Diagon Alley, London, England**

**25th** **July 1996**

Charlus Potter apparated into the Auctioneers building that he and his wife, Dorea, had owned over the last thirty years, happy about how the meeting with Albus Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge went. He was happy because he could finally get one over on his family, the family who threw him out when he started showing signs of agreeing with some of the Blood Purists over what his father and two siblings believed in.

He never forgot his father's words on the matter when he was disowned, months after the Gwindlewald War ended in 1945

"Charlus, I have fought for Muggleborn rights in the Wizengamot, I have fought for Muggleborn rights against Gwindlewald, and I have fought for Muggleborn rights in the ICW. I will never have one of my children spout things like that in my house."

When Charlus went to reply to the older Potter, he found his clothes unceremoniously dumped on the floor of Potter Manor. He knew it was a warning, but he had to say one thing.

"If you hadn't married a half blood, our family would have remained pure. You're a disgrace father."

And with that, he was port-keyed away. Henry Potter had sent him out of his family home, out of his own country, to make a living on Diagon Alley.

Fortunately for the middle Potter child, he managed to get a job as an apprentice to Jerimah Princewood, the owner of Princewood Auctioneers, and started to study the trade of muggleborns.

And he loved it.

Charlus Potter could get his revenge by making sure that the Mudbloods would get treated like the scum they were. Working in partnership with Albus Dumbledore, he managed to obtain the exclusive licence to auction off those Muggleborns that Dumbledore wanted to get rid of from Hogwarts. The clever ones, the ones who would have resulted in the destruction of the Wizarding World had they slipped through the net.

His bumper year had been in 1977, with the majority of Muggleborns sold from the crop had been sent to him selling for high prices, leaving him and Dorea able to purchase his own concubine. Charlus enjoyed the time with his concubine, until she died in a Death Eater attack on Diagon Alley.

That didn't stop the elder Potter's business, nor did the death of his parents, who were killed on a rare visit to the Alley in the same attack.

Charlus knew that he had been disinherited, as he saw his brother walk out of Gringotts, straight up to his shop. He remembered how Fleamont had walked into his auctioneers shop, passed him a bag containing 30 sickles, and left.

Walking into his shop, he heard the clock turn Midnight. Charlus smiled as he held two titles to a pair of Muggleborn witches that Albus Dumbledore wanted to sell. Ones Dumbledore had told him was close to his great nephew...

Hermione Granger and Katie Bell.

**The Burrow, Ottery St Catchpole, England**

_**25th July 1996** _

Molly Weasley was pottering around The Burrow, the house that she, along with her husband Arthur, and her two youngest children lived at, whilst the rest of her family was asleep.

Born Molly Prewitt, the younger sister of Fabian and Gideon Prewitt, the daughter of Tiberius and Dorothea Prewitt, she and her brothers were raised by her great-aunt, Muriel, from a young age due to her parents dying in the Great Dragon Pox pandemic during the early 1950s. Living in a less than ideal household, she looked forward to the days when she could go to Hogwarts.

Getting her Hogwarts letter in 1960, she was immediately took under the wing of the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, who would give her extra tuition in Potions, as she had shown great potential in her studies.

It was Hogwarts where Molly met Arthur Weasley, whom she began dating. One night, they went out for a night-time stroll and whilst Arthur got caught by Apollyon Pringle, she managed to get back to Gryffindor Tower at four in the morning and was told off by the Fat Lady.

Using her knowledge of potions, she managed to ensnare the eldest Weasley son, the thought of a marrying a member of the Sacred Twenty Eight, the thought of marrying into old money, into place. Getting her uncle Tiberius to sign the betrothal contract, she encouraged Arthur to sign it.

The day she married Arthur Weasley, she found out that the Ancient and Most Noble House of Weasley was not as rich as she thought it was. Instead she found out the only thing that they owned was the family ring, and some land. And what little money they had had to last them.

But the marriage was binding. She couldn't divorce him, she couldn't annul it and she was tied under his control, at least in theory.

In theory, she was the property of her husband. But due to the love potions swirling around him, Arthur was under her control, and she wanted to take advantage of it.

So she did. She made her husband get a dead end job in the Ministry, as she had found a way to get her hands on a familys money, one way or another.

It was in 1971 when James Potter had gone to Hogwarts, and Molly had applied to act as Potions Professor, the same year that her Potions Master, Horace Slughorn, had opted to take a sabattical for a year, and Molly had a plan.

She had spoke to Dumbledore about one of James Potter's fellow Gryffindors, and how she showed potential for Potions, and how she was worried that the young Muggleborn would notice that Arthur was under one. She suggested that Dumbledore consider her for a future Auction, maybe around her Fifth Year.

And Dumbledore had agreed with her. He had heard things about Lily Evans, about how she was trying to unite Gryffindor with Slytherin, thanks to her friendship with the young Severus Snape, how she was working out that things was not as they seemed in the Wizarding World, and the dirty secret that the Wizarding World had.

So Dumbledore, with Molly Weasley's suggestion in mind, put the young Lily Evans up for auction in her Fifth Year.

But she never got auctioned. Instead James Potter found out and managed to get a betrothal agreement set up in order to save her from a fate worse than death.

Surprisingly Molly was happy at that outcome. She knew that the son of Fleamont Potter would jump at the chance to save his schoolmate. And if Molly was honest, that would form part of her plan.

She knew that any child of that couple would be magically powerful, which would be advantageous to her as her husbands family was part of the inbreeding problem that had been caused by the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, and so she tried to get herself pregnant with a son that would be in their age range, in order to edge her bets so she could get her hands on the Potter fortune, and she knew that if they had a child, it would help the

Molly hoped that the Potter couple would have a child, and it was in 1980 that they did, a son.

But Molly had hoped that they would have had a daughter instead, as then her son would be able to control any wives or female children.

Instead it was her that had the daughter. Ginny.

A stroke of fortune happened in October 1981 though, as James and Lily Potter had been killed by Lord Voldemort, but Harry had somehow stopped the Dark Lord instead.

Molly had tried to insist on Dumbldore letting her look after the infant Potter, but Dumbledore had denied her, citing that he had a plan which meant that Potter would be that starved of love that he would be looking for a family for guidance, and that her family was the best to do so.

But Molly didn't stop there. When her youngest son, Ronald, had reported that there was a "know-it-all" in his year, Molly's mind started to plot. A plot to help the magical deficiency in her youngest son.

Pulling herself out of her memories, she put the finishing touches to a special potion which claimed to help cool the drinker down in hot weather, she sighed.

' _I'll get Ronald to send that to Granger in the morning. Within a week, she will be begging to come here to see my Ronald.'_

**_Potter Manor, Ravenswood_ **

_**25th July 1996** _

_Harry couldn't believe what he had read. Sirius loved him like a father._

_And Harry knew one thing. He would take his advice to heart._ 'Even though I love Hermione, I need to help Susan too. I'm going to fight for them both. Even if it kills me.'

As Harry had thought that, he realised that he had been told that Amelia had been married to his godfather. ' _Why didn't she come to save me from the Dursley's until now? Surely had Sirius been married to her, she would have come for me?'_

As soon as Harry thought that, Amelia answered his thoughts.

"I suppose you are confused why Sirius and I were married, yet I never came looking for you. The truth is...the truth is that after he got arrested, I found my self in a bad place." Ameila said, the memories of 1981 coming back to her. "My youngest brother and his wife had been murdered the week before yours, my husband got incarcerated for a crime he committed and my whole world got turned upside down."

Amelia started to tear up, so Susan took up the story. "When Auntie found out that Sirius had been arrested, my parents had found her one night, looking worse for wear. You see, your parents will had been sealed by the Headmaster, and she knew that your parents had wanted Sirius and her to look after you if she died." Susan said, seeing her betrothed was reaching for a nearby tissue box to pass to Amelia "You see, she was pregnant...and not long after your godfather, my Uncle, had got thrown in Azkaban and because of the stress, she had lost the baby. My cousin was miscarried, and Auntie had turned to drink."

Harry stopped and looked at the girl. Something was telling him that she was telling the truth. A feeling that he had was making his heart cry for Susan, she had lost a family member too, more family than what she had.

But he wanted to listen to her.

"Before our Third Year, I read Aunties diary, and I cried. She had wrote about the man who had pranked her numerous times, but at the same time had loved her like no other man had. She wrote about how he had tried to stop her from going to work to protect the baby when he found out about her pregnancy, and she wrote about how, despite Sirius freeing himself, she knew he would be unable to reunite with her until his name would be cleared, as Auntie knew her job would be on the line, and she would possibly be replaced by one of Fudge's cronies." Susan said to him. "It was only thanks to her patron that she would keep her job, and ultimately get the Headship of the DMLE."

"You know Harry, Sirus was a good man. Despite all his faults, he was a loving man who treated me well. And I'll never forget that."

Harry looked at the older woman. Bringing the Bones women into a hug, he realised one thing.

"So why is it you managed to become Head of the DMLE?" Harry asked, remembering about how Susan had mentioned that Amelia had a patron who helped her. "If the Wizarding World is meant to be dominated by males, then why is it that you managed to rise to that position?"

"It would be because of me." A voice sounded. Harry turned round to see somebody he would not expect to see. Somebody who was meant to be dead.

And he fainted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, a cliffhanger. The second one in five chapters. I know its a bit of a stinker, but I need to get a few chapters written up! I wonder who it could be that was Amelia's patron! Leave a comment if you think you know who the voice was... clue - its not Remus or Sirius. By the way, Katie will not join Hermione or Susan with Harry... but I know who will be her owner...and it isn't going to be who you think it is!
> 
> It never said in canon that Susan lived with Amelia, or that Susan's parents had been killed by Voldemort. Next chapter will focus on Harry, Susan and Amelia, Dumbledore and Fawkes and Hermione and her parents.


End file.
